TR EMERITUS

Dear TR, After reading the '14 year old Singaporean vows to leave Singapore if PAP is not voted out by the next general election'. The article written by the student has given me a wake up call. I am also a Secondary School student just like her. First off, what I would like to mention is that I am literally being overran by Foreign Students in my school. I agree that they do provide some motivation for us to catch up and win them. However, what I cannot accept is that they are not only rude, but also inconsiderate for others. I had an experience where the foreign students would just sit at any table they like in the canteen and throw whoever's belongings onto the floor just to sit there - yes, even if there are already students sitting there, they will just push them off or threaten them. The foreign students are mostly from Indonesia, a minority of them are from china though. They usually stick together and do not welcome others into their group. I would say not a lot of people pay attention to them but they do piss people off and I would say my friends and I do not really like them. They shout across to each other in class in their own language like we are invisible, they talk loudly everywhere, copy our homework. Even when they want to copy our homework, they go like "Oi, let me see" I do not believe that they are from scholarships but rather they're family are just plain rich. Also, some of them have the habit of skipping school for no reason whatsoever, even though we are having our O lvls this year, some of them can still go clubbing at night to the wee hours and just report sick the next day. They also treat our belonging like thrash and just throw it around on the floor if they want to sit at the place. I do not see my school doing anything about them even though they skip their CCA's and skip school. Sometimes I really wish they would all just pack up and go back to their country. Why should these type of people be accepted into our society, they are only doing more harm than good to it. Also, why is it that Singaporean's are a minority in Singapore, doesn't that just prove that something is very wrong with the way this country is being run? Till this day, I still do not understand why people still vote for the PAP, when they tell people to send the elderly to Malaysia while they work in Singapore. I quote from HEALTH MINISTER Mr Khaw Boon Wan speech "My personal view is, our land is expensive. But we have nearby neighbours in Johor, Batam and Bintan. The elderly want to reach their doctors within half to one hour." Why do we have to send our elderly overseas just to ensure they get treatment on time. Singapore is a world class country, yet we cannot even assure the elderly that they will be able to reach treatment in time when they request for help. What rights do we have to boast that we are a world class country. Shouldn't a world class country be able to do that? I wish to share this with many others too. Why is it that in Singapore, things only go one way - up. It seems that Singapore is the only country in the world that is able to defy gravity as everything goes up, except our pays. Prices of food have increased, prices of housing have increased, GST increases, the Government gets a pay rise to avoid corruption, prices of public transport goes up, the number of ERP in Singapore goes up, Electricity and water prices goes up. Our pay? One way, down and rarely up. I still remember that during my primary school. $2 can last me for the whole week in school, right now? $2 is barely enough to last me for one meal in my school. That is all I have to share. Thank you for reading.   Adrian Heng   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans. Do you have any similar stories to share? Or have your heard of such stories elsewhere? Please email us at [email protected], we want to hear from you. Your article need not be long and we do not require you to write in perfect English.  If you are not keen to reveal your identity, we allow you to use a pseudomyn. Rest assured that we will keep your contacts 100% strictly confidential. We will not edit or censor any part of your article. Most importantly, it must come straight from your heart.   Other real life stories: >> 14 year old Singaporean vows to leave Singapore if PAP remains in power >> 20 year old Indian feels threatened by increasing number of Indian immigrants in Singapore >> 32 year old Singaporean: I am lucky to be born earlier >> 28 year old teacher burdened by hefty mortgage loan for HDB flat before marriage >> Young Singaporean expressed her worries at uncertain and gloomy future  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The Singapore Civil Service has launched an "Overseaas Development Programme" to train more officers to engage with emerging countries in the world such as China. Speaking at a civil service event last night, Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the civil service Teo Chee Hean spoke of "the need to continuously provide public service officers with an edge so they will remain competent in an ever-changing world," the Straits Times reports. "This requires officers to have skills in lobbying and negotiation, to cultivate overseas networks inside and outside of government, to understand the psyche and peculiarities of other cultures, and to be able to adapt quickly to new environments," he added. It is not known how much taxpayers' monies have been pumped into the program to train Singapore civil servants to "deal" specifically with China. A staunch anti-communist ally of the United States in the 1960s, Singapore embraced China with open arms after former Chinese Premier Deng Xiaoping liberalized China's economy in the 1980s. In recent years, Singapore has welcomed an increasing number of students and workers from mainland China. Every year, the Ministry of Education gives out generous scholarships to bright college students in China to study in Singapore varsities. Chinese workers are also employed in all industries and are allowed to compete directly with Singaporeans for jobs which can otherwise be taken up by them. PAP strongman Lee Kuan Yew told the National Geographic interview lately that it is a "good" thing that Singapore welcomes so many Chinese immigrants (from mainland China) as they are more "hard-driving" and "hard-striving" than locals. "If they do not have the spurs stuck in their hides, that's their problem," he was quoted as saying by journalist Mark Jacobsen. At the same time, government-linked companies flocked to China to do business including the epic flop - Suzhou Industrial Park which reputedly made a loss amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. The China-Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) was set up in 1994 at the outskirts of the Suzhou City in Jiangsu province with the help of Singapore funds and expertise. Singapore owned a 65% stake in the park. Even as the park was being constructed, the Suzhou City government set up Suzhou New District Industrial Park (SND) right next to SIP. It was the exact replica of the Singapore model. As the Suzhou City government had a majority stake in SND, it largely ignored the SIP and concentrated on promoting the SND instead. After incurring losses of some US$90 million over 5 years, the Singapore consortium lowered its stake to 35 percent, raising the Chinese consortium’s stake to 65 percent from 35 percent and reducing the Singaporean share from a planned 70 sq.km. to just 8 sq.km. Hopefully the new generation of Singapore civil servants trained to "deal" with China will not make similar mistakes which cause Singapore to lose money again in its business ventures with China.   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans.    Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Former Romanian diplomat Dr Silviu Ionescu who was implicated in a fatal hit-and-run traffic accident last year December claimed that he "was not dwelling on the verdict" given by the Singapore Coroner's Court tomorrow. State Coroner Victor Yeo has ruled that Dr Silviu Ionescu, Romania's former Charge d'Affaires was the driver of the car involved in the hit-and-run accidents that took place on 15 December last year, according to a Channel News Asia. 31 year old Malaysian Tong Kok Wai was one of the victims knocked down by a vehicle from the Romanian embassy and he eventually succumbed to his injuries. He just got married a month ago. "'I don't think anything of it. I know the result already, pretty much," Dr Silviu was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. He has been denying that he was responsible for the accident and counter-accused the Singapore government for "framing" him because of his "political activities" during his stint as a diplomat here. Despite being the prime suspect in the case, Dr Silviu was allowed to return to Romania three days after the accident by the Singapore authorities which had received much flak for it. The accident sparked a massive outroar among Singaporeans who wondered if double standards are being practiced in the application of the law - if the culprit was a Singaporean, he would be arrested and charged the very next day. The Foreign Affair Ministry could have adopted a proactive stance by requesting for Dr Silviu's diplomatic immunity to be waived so that he could be remanded in Singapore for further investigations. Foreign Minister George Yeo did not comment on the case until two months later when he told the media that "what happened was very bad." In contrast, he responded immediately when his buddy Jack Neo's affair was leaked to the press by calling on all Singaporeans to "rally" around the adulterer. It is highly unlikely that Dr Silviu will return to Singapore to face the music. There are no extradiction treaties between Singapore and Romania. Though he is under investigations by the Romanian authorities for manslaughter charges, he has yet to be charged. Romania was ranked as the 73th least corrupted nation in the world by Transparency International in 2009.   Related articles: 1. Confirmed: Dr Silviu Ionescu is the driver 2. Email interview with Yenny Young, wife of Mr Tong Kok Wai 3. Dr Silviu Ionescu: fact remains that I was not in the car at the time of the accident 4. Investigating or procrastinating: Dr Silviu Ionescu still holidaying in Romania 5. George Yeo on Romanian embassy car crash: What happened is “very bad” 6. Online petition calls on Romanian govt to make ex gratias payment 7. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I took cab to notify car theft 8. Eye witness saw driver quarreling with a young girl in the car 9. Dr Silviu Ionescu: I have no connection with the case 10. Dr Silviu Ionescu flagged taxi at Sungei Kadut 11. From Romania with love: The Great Singapore escape of Dr Silviu Ionescu 12. Singapore police has not ruled out Dr Silviu Ionescu as a suspect in its investigations 13. Romanian diplomat suspected to be driver of Audi in hit and run accident at Bukit Panjang  Read More →